It was a dismal post-Memorial Day frame at the North America box office as the Disney flop Solo: A Star Wars Story clinged to the number one spot despite dropping a steep 65%. STX’s Adrift opened to moderate numbers while Bloomhouse’s Upgrade and Paramount’s Action Point were both dead on arrival.
If Disney needed a clue that the general public doesn’t need -or want- a new Star Wars film every six to twelve months, then the 65% second weekend drop in sales for Solo: A Star Wars Story should do the trick. Despite positive feedback from opening week crowds, the best Solo could score in its sophomore session was an estimated $29.2 million from 4,381 screens, bringing its ten-day total to a weak $149 million.
In comparison to second rounds for recent Star Wars offerings from the Mouse House, Solo’s $29 million was considerably lower than Rogue One’s $65 millionand The Last Jedi’s $71 million. WhileRogue and Jedi each benefited from the Christmas holiday, each also faced plenty of competition at the same time. While Solo had its holiday boost in its first weekend, the only competition it faced this weekend was Deadpool 2, a film in its third weekend of release.
With The Incredibles 2 and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom waiting in the wings, Solo’s box office misfortunes will only get worse from here. How much worse? Solo should consider itself lucky if it makes its way past the $200 million mark by the end of its run. Internationally, the Ron Howard film scored an equally meek $30 million this weekend. This helped push Solo up to $115 million in foreign ticket sales for an overall global gross of $264 million.
Fox’s Deadpool 2 held well in its third weekend on 4,161 screens. The R-rated sequel had a post-holiday dip of only 46%, which resulted in an estimated $23.3 million weekend. The domestic total for Deadpool 2 now sits at $254.6 million. A finale near the $300 million mark is possible for the $110 million production. Overseas, Deadpool 2 has scored $291.6 million.
Setting sail with a moderate $11.5 million from 3,015 theaters was the STX feature Adrift. The $35 million drama starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin received mostly positive reviews from the critics -71% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 56/100 on Metacritic- but a mixed “B” rating from ticket buyers on CinemaScore.
In its sixth weekend, Avengers: Infinity War muscled its way up to sixth place on the all-time domestic grossing films thanks to a $10.3 million weekend gross from 3,570 theaters. Down 40% from Memorial Day weekend, Infinity War has scored $643 million. The superhero epic has scored $1.3 billion internationally.
Infinity War should wind down its North America run with roughly $660 million, which would be enough to push the film up to fourth place on the all-time list between Black Panther and Titanic. Be sure to keep an eye out for James Cameron doing more Marvel bashing once Infinity War passes Titanic.
Hanging tough in fifth place was Paramount’s hit comedy Book Club with an estimated $6.8 million from 3,169 theaters. Down only 33% -the best hold of any film in the top ten-, Book Club has scored a solid $47.3 million so far. The arrival of Ocean’s 8 next weekend may steal a large part of this film’s key demographic, but that shouldn’t stop Book Club from working its way past the $60 million mark by the end of its run.
- Upgrade (BH Tilt) $4.4 million
Strong reviews from the critics, including an 85% from Rotten Tomatoes, weren’t enough to help the latest offering from Blumhouse at the box office. Still, with a budget of only $15 million, Upgrade should eventually turn a profit.
- Life of the Party (Warner/NL) $3.4 million (-36%); $46.3 million
- Breaking In (Universal) $2.8 million (-34%); $41.3 million
- Action Point (Paramount) $2.3 million
So, Paramount, when can we expect Jackass 4?
- Overboard (2018) (Lionsgate) $1.97 million (-37%); $45.5 million
Next weekend, Oceans 8, Hereditary and Hotel Artemis arrive on the scene. Oceans 8 should win the weekend without much of an effort.
